- Author: Betsy Buxton
If you have a flat backyard and want to change that dimensional look, think growing up! The use of vines on fences, supporting structures, or even trees will give the illusion that there is more than flat land there.
One vine that works well in our area is Jasminum polyanthum, also known as Pink Jasmine. With its bright pink buds and light pink flowers this vine is a real winner in the scent department! Growing to 20 feet, this plant intertwines easily with other larger upright shrubs to form garden walls luring one further into the garden. Not a water hog, planted along a fence, this vine helps provide bird shelter, is a food source –look out for hummingbirds, and a very pleasant but not overpowering scent during the day and evenings. Blooming in late winter, reminding one that spring is coming and continuing throughout spring and continuing sporadically for the rest of the year. Planted in full sun or partial shade, pink jasmine holds its own; plant it in the ground or put in a large container with a trellis and it is a “happy camper”! It can even be grown as a ground cover! How good is that?
Prune every year to keep neat and tidy, otherwise this vine tumbles over itself to form large green tangles. A very nice addition to any garden! Plant it and enjoy!
I've included some pictures of pink jasmine in my yard blooming away. Since the fence on which the trellis is on will be replaced in a week and the vine pruned way back (out of season) these pictures will be my memories for this year!
- Author: Kathy Low
If you're into numbers, 1630 is the minimum number of print and e-books, DVDs, magazines, and audio books on the general topic of gardening available to you. 110 is the number of books on roses you have access to. And 270 is the number of books on vegetable gardening you can read at your leisure whether you have a library card from the Benicia Public Library, Dixon Library, or Solano County Library. In honor of National Library Week (April 12 – 18, 2015) it seems fitting to look at the wealth of gardening information available to you through your local public library.
Long gone are the days when you were limited to only the books on the shelf at your local library. Today any circulating book or item at any public or partnering library (including Solano Community College's library) in the county can be requested and delivered to your local library for you to check out. But besides books, the library has DVDs, e-books, and electronic databases to meet your information and recreational needs.
If you like watching gardening videos, you can check out dozens of gardening DVDs on topics ranging from soils to lawn care. Or if you're into reading gardening related e-books, you can check out a variety of them from the library. And if you haven't discovered the Zinio database on the Solano County Library's website yet, be sure to check it out. It allows you to read the current and back issues of various magazines, including Mother Earth News and Organic Gardening.
Whether you're looking for information on how to grow marijuana, or information on hydroponics, you'll find it at the library. And don't forget there are books and DVDs on gardening for children, and books on gardening for seniors. And if there's a current gardening book you think the library should have but doesn't, you can suggest they purchase it for their collection. The library is your library and your source of gardening information.
- Author: Tina Saravia
It's blooming. It really is. I've been waiting for this moment for over 16 years.
I first encountered the Orchid Rockrose (Cistus x purpureus) in the garden of my very first gardening client on the western, foggy side of San Francisco when I was a youngish Horticulture student who wanted to gain some real gardening experience. I promised myself that I will have this plant. Years went by and I forgot about it as my orchid collection grew, but that's another story.
Why the excitement about this plant? The gorgeous flowers; and it's called Orchid Rockrose.
Cistus, or Rockrose plants are drought tolerant, native to the Mediterranean - dry summers like ours. There are several species of Cistus and the orchid rockrose is a hybrid of two Cistus species. They are all low maintenance, requiring only a periodic cutting of a few old stems;
According to the Sunset Western Garden Book, it requires little or no water. I purchased it as a 1-gallon plant from the Solano College Fall Plant Sale; planted and watered it. I watered it again every few days until the rains started coming.
Since January, I've watered it about once a month and a week and a half ago, it started blooming with gorgeous reddish purple (fuchsia pink or Phaelaenopsis orchid — pink to me), 3" wide. The plant has also tripled in size.
The orchid rockrose is a good companion plant to Lavender (Lavandula spp.) and Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis), also Mediterranean natives, as they all need full sun and very little water.
It's supposed to grow to 4 ft tall and wide. it's now about 2 ft x 2 ft. It will be interesting to see how fast it will grow in the summer heat and how long the it will keep having those gorgeous flowers.
- Author: Sterling Smith
Hummingbird Sage- Salvia spathacea is also known as ‘Pitcher Sage' or ‘Crimson Sage', an attractive CA native plant. Plentiful in Oak woodlands, it requires less water which makes it an excellent choice for landscapes where an application of too much summer water is harmful for the Blue, Live, Oracle or Valley Oaks found in Solano County.
A versatile choice for suburban landscapes; while enjoying a cup of coffee recently, I observed a local hummingbird checking out the blossoms for a morning meal. My plant was obtained at a local California Native Plant Society (CNPS) plant sale 2 years ago and has now grown to several plants. Drip irrigation is all I have provided. Durable, attractive and water-wise; it's a good choice for today's climate.
Our local county library has addition information packets on the bulletin board, or search for CA Native Plants on line.
Have fun!
- Author: Karen Metz
This time of year it is usually fun to go outside each day to see what is new in the garden. Things are growing so fast it seems like each day there are new blossoms that have opened or new shoots that have appeared. One day this last week I had two surprises that weren't so nice.
The first was my Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, Corylus avellana 'Contorta'. I was looking at it, admiring its twisted branches and seeing that its leaf buds were swelling and opening. But then I saw some other bumps, some were grayish and some had a brown shell. Oh no, scale. Not sure what type, possibly brown scale or Lecanium. Since the shrub is small, under 2 and a half feet, and a favorite, I removed by hand all that I could see . This is a first for this plant so I will definitely be watching it closely.
The other surprise I saw out of the corner of my eye as I rounded the corner to show my husband the apricot colored irises that were blooming in front of the brilliant California poppies. What was that flash of sulfurous yellow in the empty raised bed? I looked closer at the blob that was at the soil line of the wooden wall of the raised bed and had oozed through between the two boards that make up the wall to the outside surface as well. I know what that is, I read about it in another posting on the MG blog. This is slime mold. I'll have to take a photo of this. By the afternoon I was shocked to see it had turned to beige. Now it looked like its common name Dog Vomit Slime Mold. I knew I didn't need to be worried about it. It isn't harmful and usually appears where there is decaying material, like a raised bed where I had put a wood chip mulch a few months ago. If I ever see it again, I will get the picture right away, because the yellow was kind of cool.
This is one of the reasons I like gardening so much. There is always something new to see or learn no matter how old you are.
